Artificial bird-target.



E. E. THRESHER.

ARTIFICIAL BIRD TARGET. APPLIGATION FILED JAN. l1, 1909.

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NETE@ eTATES EDWARD n. Trinnsnnn, or Annone, onto.

ARTIFICIAL il @T5 515%.

Application led January TQ all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. THREsHun, a citizen of the United States, residing at Aurora, in the county of Portage and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Artificial Bird- Targets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to artificial birdtargets, the primary obj ect of the invention being to provide an indestructible artificial target for use in what is known as trapshooting, and target being adapted to be suspended and carried through the air in perfect imitation or similitude of a livebird. rlhese indestructible bird-targets are designed to take the place of live-birds in trap-shooting tournaments, thereby doing away with the cruelty exhibited by sportsmen in live-bird shooting. rFliese bird targets are also designed as an improvement on and a substitute for the so-called pigeons or targets made of clay now in common use by gun-clubs.

In carrying out the invention, the birdtarget is made up of carbonized steel (or other hardened steel calculated to withstand, without material injury or deformity, the shock incident to the impact of the missile shot) plate in the form representative of a iiying pigeon or other bird, and so arranged and carried by a carrier-wire or cable that when struck by a missile shot it will automatically change from its substantially horizontal or flying position to a substantially vertical or dead position, the target being carried and suspended in said last mentioned position by said' carrier-wire to the carrier-wire actuatingwheel or t trap where it may be again attached in its liying position and reversed and despatched in another direction.

Nith the above mentioned ends in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, hereinafter described, illust-rated in the accompanying drawings showing one of the embodiments of the invention, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l, is a side elevation of an artificial bird-target in its normal or flying position. Fig. 2, a top plan view of the same, a portion of the trolley-wheel housing of the traveling car- Iier being broken away for the purpose of Specification of Letters Patent.

1i, 130e. serial No. encon.

BRD-TARGET.

Patented Got. le, i913.

clearer illustration of the parts. Fig.y 3, a g side elevation of a portion of the improved @carrier-wire or cable, and one of the actuating-wheels or traps the bird-target l being shown carried in its substantially ver- E, tical or dead position. Fig. 4L, an end lview of the improved traveling-carrier, the gbird-target, proper, being detached. Fig. f 5, a plan view of the underside of same with depending swivel-carrying casing or housling removed, the oppositely-disposed latch- 'ing-,bolts or plates and eccentrically-mount- =ed spring-resisted laterally-extensible actuating bolts being in their contracted or retracted position. Fig. 6, a similar view of same in their expanded or projected posivtion as they appear when the traveling-earrier is carrying the bird-target in its normal or flying position as indicated in Figs. 1, and 2L rlhe artificial bird-target proper, coinprises two parts of sheet metal l, conforming in their outline and contour to the outline and contour of the body neck and head portions of the bird represented. rIhe parts l, are pivotally connected along their lower edges, in the present instance, by means of a hinge 2, secured within the lower marginal edges of the parts 1, by means of rivets 3. The upper marginal or free edges of the parts l, are bent inwardly to provide front and rear shoulder portions l and 5, respectively, and provide an intermediate rectangular shaped carrier receiving opening 6, adapted to receive and contain the traveling carrier hereinafter described, when the bird target is in its horizontal or flying position as shown in Figs. l and 2, of the drawings.

The upper marginal or free edges of the parts l, forming the body of the bird-target, are provided with wings 7, of sheet metal conforming in their outline and contour to that of the wings of a flying bird, said wings, in the present instance, being secured to the upper free edges of the parts l, forming the bird body by means of rivets 8. rllhe front shoulderportions il, are provided, in the present instance, with reinforcing strips 9, provided with stems 9a, secured by means of rivets l0. The rear shoulder portions 5, in the present instance, are provided with tail stems 11, extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom, and secured,'in the present instance, to the rear oval shaped portions l, of the bird-body by means of attaching stems 12, and rivets 13. lt is obvious, however, that the tail stems may be formed integral with the bird body portions l, if desired. rlhe front or head portions of the parts 1, are connected by a cross pin the head 14, (see Fig. 2) of which forms a stop to limit the outward movements of the upper or free sides of the parts 1, said cross pin being screw threaded at its opposite end 14a, and threaded into the opposite head portion of the opposite part. lt will be observed that the cross pin forms the eye of the bird-target and the shank-of the cross pin near the head 14, is adapted to loosely play in the opening therefor.

The tail 15, of the bird-target comprises a plate of sheet metal secured beneath the tail stems 11, by means of guide pins 16, eX- ltending through rearwardly converging' guide slots 17, of the tail stems. The tail 15, is provided with a depending portion l5, carrying a contact-strip 18, of substantial lcl-shape in outline the front marginal edges 18, of said contact-strip being adapted to abut against the oval shaped rear portions 1a, of the bird-target body.

By reason of the construction described it will be observed that the upper free edges of the parts 1, forming the body neck and head portions of the bird-target are adapted to have a limited movement to and from each other for cooperating with the latching and carrying mechanism of the traveling carrier to be now described. The traveling carrier comprises a carrier-plate 19, provided on its under sides with guide flanges 20. As a means for suspending and carrying the bird-target through the air the carrier plate is, preferably, provided with a trolleywheel 21, mounted in a housing 22. A carrier-wire or cable is adapted to be suitably suspended between two carrier-wheels or traps 23, one of which is shown in Fig. 3, of the drawings, and the upper member 24, of the carrier-wire is adapted to pass through suitable openings 25, of the housing 22, and under the trolley-wheel 21, while the lower ends or members 26, of the carrierwire or cable are secured at their ends to attaching bolts 27, of brackets 28, secured to the upturned ends 19a, of the carrier-plate.

The traveling carrier latch engaging and actuating mechanisms are mounted on the under side of the carrier-plate 19, and inclosed within a depending housing 29, secured to the sides of the guide flanges 20, by means of screws 30. The housing 29, is provided at its opposite sides with slots 31, through which the laterally extensible actuating bolts, hereinafter described, are ada-pted to extend or project while in their eX- panded or projected position.

When the bird-target is released from its horizontal or flying position, it is caused to assume and is suspended in its substantially vertical or dead position by means of a connecting bar or link 32, having one end secured to the cross pin intermedia-te the sides of the head of the bird-target and the other end provided with a longitudinal slot 33, and slidably secured by means of a cross pin 34, passing through said sl-ot 33, and

carried in a swivel 35, carried beneath t-he housing 29. `W hen the bird-target has been plates 36, adapted to be longitudinally eX- panded and contracted by means of eccentrically-mounted spring-resisted laterally eX- tensible actuating bolts, each of said actuating bolts comprising a main body portion 37 a laterally extending arm port-ion 38, and a friction contact portion 39. One end of each of the main body portions 37, is pivotallv secured to one of the latching bolts or plates 36, by means of a pivot screw 40, and the other end is pivot-ally secured to an actuating head 41, of an actuating expanding bolt for setting the parts in their latched engagement with the bird-target in its flying position as well as disposing the friction contact portions V39, in engagement with the adjacent sides of the upper fre-e edges of the parts 1, forming the body of the bird-target whereby the latching bolts 36, will be withdrawn from latching engagement with the bird-target when the latter is struck by a missile shot, as hereinafter described.

rlhe latching bolt or plates 36, together with the pivotally attached laterally eX- tensible actuating bolts are held in their contracted or retracted position as indicated in Fig. 5, of the drawings by means of a depending longitudinally-extending spring 42, suspended beneath and connected to the latching bolts or plates 36, by means of depending supporting arms 43. The spring 42,

tends lto draw the latching bolts 36, toward each other when expanded as shown most clearly in Fig. 6, of the drawings, and the sensitiveness of the friction contact portions 39, of the laterally eXtensible actuating bolts to the impact caused by the missile shot may be regulated by regulating the distance to which the actuating bolts are moved to or past the dead center of the actuating head 41. In the present instance, this regulation is brought about by means of an adjusting screw 44, secured to a depending supporting stud or post 45, of lone of the latching bolts or plates 36, the inner end of said adjusting screw being adapted to abut against the upon the reinforcing strips 9 above the' shoulder portions 4f., at the front and upon` the shoulder portions of 'the tail stems 11,1

above the rear shoulder port-ions 5, and when in this position, the latching bolts together; with the laterally extensible actuating-bolts are moved to their expanded or projected posit-ion by turning the winged nut L16, of

the hand operated actuating or expandingbolt whereby the actuating head 41, be-

neath will expand the parts Vas shown mostclearly in Fig. 6, of the drawings, and the outer ends of the latching bolts 36, will take under the marginal edges ofthe front and.

rear shoulders 4, and 5, respectively. While the bird is being carried through the air in its flying position by the action of the moving carrier-wire or cable attached to the traveling-carrier of the bird-target, it is obvious that should a missile shot strike any portion of the pivotally connected parts 1, of the bird-target the force or impactfof the missile shot will cause the adjacent friction contact portion 39, of the actuating bolt to throw the parts past dead center and they will be immediately contracted or retracted to the position shown most clearly in Fig. 5, of the drawings, whereby the bird-target will fall and assume its substantially vertical or dead position as shown most clearly in Fig. 3, of the drawings.

As a means for providing for what may be termed a rear kill the arrangement and disposition of the tail 15, relative to the tail stems 11, and the oval shaped portions 1, is such that should a missile shot come in contact with the depending portion 15a, it will be driven forwardly and the coaction of the guide-pins 16, in the guide slots 17 together with the coaction of the contact strip 18, with the oval shaped portions la, will cause the parts to be moved toward each other and thus detach the bird from its flying` position as above referred to.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the operation and advantages of my invention will be readily understood.

Having thus described my invention without having attempted to set forth all the forms in which it may be made, or all the modes of its use, I declare that what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-

1. An artificial bird-target, comprising a traveling trolley carrier, an artificial laterally-eXpansible bird-target body normally 'carried in a iyifng position, and means for disengaging and changing the position of said bird-target from a flying to a dead position 7 when said target body is contracted lby the impact yof a missile-shot.

2. An artificial bird-target, comprising a traveling carrier, an artificial laterally eX- pansible bird-target normally carried there- Vby in a flying position, means for detaching said bird-target from its flying position when struck by a missile-shot and independent suspending means `for causing said birdtarget to assume a dead position when -detached from its flying position.

3. In an articial bird-target, a targetbody comprising expansible parts connected tc each other and conforming in their outline and contour to the outline and contour of the bird represented, and a traveling carrier for supporting said target body in a flying position when the parts are expanded, and a movable tail member in cooperative relation thereto.

4:. In an artificial bird-target, a traveling carrier comprising a trolley-wheel and housing and a carrier plate, laterally-extensible actuating bolts carried thereby, eXpansible latching-bolts connected to said actuatingbolts, and an operating-bolt for manually extending said actuating-bolts.

5. In an artificial bird-target, the combination with a target-body comprising two laterally expansible parts pivotally connected at their lower edges and provided with carrier provided with latching mechanism and laterally-extensible actuating-bolts interposed between said laterally-expansible parts and independent connecting means for suspending said target-body in a dead position when detached from said-latching mechanism.

6. In an artificial bird-target, a pair of carrier-wheels, a carrier wire mounted thereon, a traveling-carrier provided with a trolley-wheel mounted on the upper member `of said carrier-wire and a carrier-plate secured to the adjacent ends of the lower member of said carrier-wire, and a laterally eXpansible target-body normally carried by said traveling-carrier in a flying position and adapted to be contracted and detached from said carrier-plate when struck by a missile shot.

7. In an artificial bird-target, the combination with a laterally-expansible target-body composed of two parts pivotally connected at their lower portions and provided at their rear with tail stems and oval-shaped rear portions; of a tail member slidably connected to said tail-stems and provided with a depending portion adapted to cooperate with said oval-shaped rear portions whereby said target-body is contracted when said tail member is driven forwardly by the impact' of a missile-shot. Y.

S. An artificial bird-target, comprising a traveling carrier, an artificial laterally ex-` pansible bird-target carried thereby in ariiying position, means for detaching said birdtarget from said position when contracted by the impact of a missile-shot, and a linl bar connecting said bird-target with saidv main body portion made up ot' two metallic parts pivotally connected at their lower edges and provided at their upper portions with front and rear shoulder portions and an intermediate carrier-receiving-opening, a traveling carrier mounted in said opening and provided with latching plates taking under said shoulder portions and laterally extensible actuating bolts in expanded en gagement with the upper portions of said metallic parts, and a link connected to said carrier and main body portion for suspending the latter when detached from said latching plates.

l0. An artiiicial bird-target, comprising a target-body made up of two parts pivotally connected at their lower edges and having laterally expansible upper portions, a

traveling carrier provided with laterally extensible actuating-bolts interposed between said upper portions and latching mechanism in latcliing .engagement Awith said targetbody when said actuating bolts are expanded7 .means for manually extending said actuating-bolts, and means for suspending said target-body in a dead position when released from said latching mechanism.

Ylinen artificial bird-target, comprising a carrier, means for supporting and moving lsaid carrier, an expansibleV bird-target body,

Vdropping and supporting said bird-target bodyV in a Y dead position when the latter is contracted by the impact Voi: a missile shot. ln testimony whereof l have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

EDl/VARD E. THRESHER Witnesses:

ROBERT A. CASTNER, O. C. BILLMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iveicents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

